Council OKs new Master Plan
Unanimous approval at meeting marks the first update of critical city document since 1966
For the first time since 1966, the City of Warren has a new Master Plan. At its Jan. 12 meeting, Warren City Council unanimously approved the document that is to guide the development of the city over the coming years.
Warren adopted its first Master Plan in 1966 and added a “policies plan” in 1986. Michigan law requires that cities review their Master Plan every five years to determine if it needs to be updated.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Warren Planning Director Ronald Wuerth.
The process for this Master Plan update began more than two years ago when a series of six town hall meetings were held to determine what was most important to residents about their city. An online survey was also posted on the city website for several months to help gather input.
The number one thing residents asked for was increased access to nature and more green space. Walkable neighborhoods, public and private investment in the south end of the city and mixed use retail spots also made the list.
Leah DuMouchel of Beckett & Raeder, Inc, the firm that developed the plan, presented it during the meeting and highlighted some of its goals. Increasing the city’s tree canopy, adding bike and walking paths, adding more diversified housing, and developing a “town center” area were some of the specific things discussed.
“We heard in all of the town hall meetings a need for public and private reinvestment in South Warren,” said DuMouchel. “We
have heard right in this meeting tonight about our biggest finding, which was more access to nature and increasing the tree canopy.”
“We have had a problem with the green space in the city disappearing,” said resident Jerry Hasspacher, who is a member of the city’s Environmental Advisory Committee. “What I want to say about this Master Plan is that you have to be able to set guidelines and goals for all of the city departments so they know what they are trying to accomplish with this new plan. Right now it seems that no one is communicating with anyone. We need to preserve green space and we should have a land bank like any other major city does to help preserve the few green areas that are still in existence.”
Wuerth said each department would have goals and conceded part of the problem with the loss of tree canopy is the lack of a comprehensive tree ordinance.
“We do not have a true tree ordinance right now,” said Wuerth. “But the Master Plan has a myriad of goals that we are going to go after. Not just the planning department, but every department and committee including (Hasspacher’s) committee.”
The development of “mixed use districts” in neighborhoods and in the “town center” area on Van Dyke next to City Hall and across from the General Motors Technical Center is an inherent part of the plan. During last week’s meeting of Warren’s Downtown Development Authority, Economic Development Director Tom Bommarito proposed an update to the original town center study and specifically the inclusion of a hotel in the plan, which was approved unanimously by the DDA.
That study will help to determine how the existing town center plan fits in with the new Master Plan and what adjustments, if any, should be made.
Planning Commission Chairperson Jocelyn Howard, who was also part of the Master Plan steering committee, commended the city council for approving the plan and Weurth and all of the residents who attended meetings and completed the survey for their participation.
“One of the greatest things about the Master Plan is that it was a collaborative effort,” said Howard. “We are really, really excited. Our consultants at Beckett & Raeder did a wonderful job of showing not only where our community is going, but where our entire region is going. It was countless hours of going through data and looking at where Warren was at with relation to other cities.”
Ironically, one of the goals listed under the “environmental resiliency” section of the Master Plan is the prohibition of development on wetlands that are not protected by the state. One of the public hearing items on Tuesday’s city council agenda was the rezoning of such a property on 10 Mile Road from an office district and one-family residential to a planned unit development district.
That rezoning was approved and trees have recently been razed from that property in preparation for construction of apartments and townhouses. Howard acknowledged that had the new Master Plan been in place at the time the petitioner requested the rezoning, the Planning Commission and council might not have approved it.
“We were bound to an old, antiquated Master Plan when we were making our decisions,” said Howard. “Now we have a new Master Plan and with it, we tried to chart a path for our city for the next 20 to 25 years.”
Resident Fred Kaluza, who was part of the Master Plan steering committee and is also a member of the EAC, was guarded with his enthusiasm for the document. While he likes the outlined goals and objectives and says they reflect resident input, he is concerned about securing proper funding for the projects and also with how things like “preserving green space” will be enforced.
“Funding has to be appropriated and if that is not part of the plan, then it is little more than a dream,” said Kaluza. “Are there going to be any repercussions if someone violates the Master Plan? There are none that I have heard of. Truthfully, the next tree that gets cut down, we can scream that it is a violation of the Master Plan.”
Councilman Jonathan Lafferty said he took time over the past months to carefully scrutinize the new Master Plan and called it an objective but stark examination of needs and improvements for the city.
“The need for a green canopy, beautification of the neighborhoods, a mix of housing and development; we have been hearing these themes throughout tonight’s meeting,” said Lafferty. “This is a beautiful start to the future of Warren for us to become the neighborhood city we all envision.”
The Warren Master Plan may be viewed at warrenmasterplan.org